Ryan Wood is officially the qualifying king of the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge after scoring his sixth pole position from as many rounds at Phillip Island today.
Wood completed the sweep on the opening day of the season ending Island Magic round with a 1:30.9661.
The Team Porsche NZ scholarship winner edged out championship rival and leader Thomas Sargent by just 0.26s.
The rivals have locked out the front row for the sixth time in as many rounds and Wood said it was a thrill to set another pole, but knows the important stuff kicks off tomorrow.
“Its great to get six poles from all six races this year, it’s a good way to start the weekend,” he said.
“We had trouble in practice with a couple of gremlins that crept in, but at the end of the day we did it when it mattered.
“Looking forward to tomorrow, we just need some luck to go our way finally.
“In terms of the championship, all I can do is try get all the wins and see what happens in the end.”
Tom Sargent once again fell short from pole position. Image: Speedshots
Sargent started the weekend on the front foot by setting the pace in the opening practice session as the only driver in the 1:31s timeframe.
However, Wood overcame some early issues to give his title rival a run for his money as a thrilling fight for pole panned out across the 20-minute qualifying session.
The duo duelled from the moment the green flag was waved and Wood held the upper hand by just 0.01s after the opening stanza.
Wood was able to marginally improve on his second run while Sargent found no further time aboard his Tegra Australia 911, locking them into the front row of the grid.
With the Kiwi claiming the bonus point, he is now just 31 points behind and with another 180 up for grabs across Saturday’s three races it is all to play for.
In the fight for third Lachlan Bloxsom emerged on top and will line up alongside Courtney Prince.
Carrera Cup regular Adrian Flack made the most of his cameo by taking the Morris Pro-Am pole.
Sam Shahin qualified behind Flack and hopes to gain some points on Pro-Am class
championship leader Brett Boulton, who could only manage sixth.
The Class B title battle is also delicately poised after home town hero Jacob Li claimed class pole position for the third time this year, while leader Lachlan Harburg sits fourth.
The three championship deciding races will take place from 9:30am, 12:30pm and 3:30pm respectively at the Island Magic and will be broadcast live on Blend Line TV’s YouTube channel.
